(VOVWORLD) - Eliminating the makeshift or dilapidated housing of poor and near-poor households is a critical political priority of the Vietnamese Party and State. Vietnam aims to eradicate these substandard homes nationwide by 2025. A number of new houses have been built, and others are under urgent construction, reflecting the determination of the authority and people to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development.
 Solidarity houses are presented to poor households in Dak Lak. (Photo: VOV)
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315,000 families in Vietnam live in substandard housing. Most of these houses are in remote, isolated, disadvantaged, border, island, and ethnic minority areas.
Happy with their new house
Ms. Ho Thi Hanh of the Ca Dong ethnic group in Gia Cao village, Phuoc Gia commune, Hiep Duc district, Quang Nam province, just moved into her new home. She’s a single mother raising four children in a remote area. Her joy and gratitude are indescribable.
Hanh said: "Thanks to the Party and the State, we now have a house. I’m very happy and feel at peace and stable. This Tet, we will have a new house. Before, our corrugated iron roof often blew off during storms. Now, with this solid house, my children and I are protected from sun and rain."
Like Hanh's family, 33 other Ca Dong ethnic households in Phuoc Gia commune have received financial assistance to replace their temporary homes.
In the northern province of Lai Chau, Giang A Chinh’s family in Den Thang A village, Dao San commune, also received a new house. The family, who used to live in a bamboo-and-rattan structure of less than 20 square meters that leaked whenever it rained, now resides in a sturdy 70-square-meter house.
Chinh said: "With the State's support, my savings, and help from the community, we’ve built a solid home."
 Officers and soldiers of Lai Chau Provincial Police join hands to remove makeshift houses for poor households in border areas. (Photo: VOV) |
Important political mission
The elimination of makeshift and dilapidated housing is a top political priority of the Vietnamese Party and State. Several policies supporting revolutionary contributors, poor households, and families affected by natural disasters have been implemented. Conclusion 97 of the recent 10th plenum of the Party Central Committee emphasized the need to fully and promptly implement poverty reduction policies and promote the emulation movement to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses nationwide by 2025. A Central Steering Committee on Elimination of Temporary and Dilapidated Houses, chaired by the Prime Minister, has been established.
Joining the effort, localities nationwide have adopted several creative measures to mobilize resources to achieve this goal. As a result, Dien Bien province has eliminated 5,000 houses, Nghe An has replaced over 5,600 houses, and Cao Bang has supported more than 3,600 households. Many ministries, sectors, and enterprises have enthusiastically joined the effort.
In Bac Kan province, over 1,800 households have already received housing support this year. The province plans to eliminate 3,173 more houses with a budget of nearly 6 million USD next year. Do Thi Hien, Director of Bac Kan’s Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, said work is underway to evaluate local housing conditions.
"With more than 3,000 of these houses, we have allocated 2,300 USD for each new construction and half of this sum for each renovation. We have also mobilized more than 3.9 million USD from the Fund for the Poor and Fund for Natural Disaster Recovery, which will be spent mainly on repairing houses damaged by natural disasters," said Hien.
In Lai Chau province, 3,000 households need housing support, and 2,200 need new homes. Mr. Hoang Kieu Anh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in Lai Chau, said eliminating temporary or dilapidated houses will be the province’s most important task next year.
"The provincial Fatherland Front is working closely with agencies and other localities to strengthen communications and encourage community support. We are mobilizing cash, labor, and materials to achieve our goal of eliminating temporary and dilapidated housing by 2025," said Mr. Anh.
The campaign to eliminate makeshift and dilapidated housing is part of the effort to improve people’s living conditions, strengthen social security, and lay a foundation for sustainable development. Through the combined efforts of the government, local authorities, and communities, Vietnam is on track to achieve this ambitious and meaningful goal.